Song: Davy Jones loop by Malmstrom

The last person I expected to see when I opened my eyes was Reign. And yet, here I was watching the unbothered Beta while he flipped through a thick book. The baby blue colored novel was stained red at the top of the pages. I found myself grinning a little despite the faint throbbing coming from my healed back.

I may have had a small theory regarding the bloodiness of those pages.

A cool night breeze brushed over the raised scars. Even though it felt amazing, a rush of embarrassment filled me when I remembered Reign was here. Ignoring the protests of my tired limbs, I pulled the dark blanket higher to cover the hideous marks.

Sinking into the warm mattress, I laid my head to rest on my folded arms. "Is that the book you attacked my cousin's Beta with?"

Reign hummed, licking the tip of his thumb to turn the page. "A collection of the world's best plays to ever be written. He should be proud to be kissed by such phenomenal literature."

I bit my lip to suppress a laugh. The idea of someone as stoic and reserved as Reign beating someone with a book was too bizarre to imagine. It also really didn't fit his personality at all.

"Why'd you do it?"

Reign sighed, letting the book fall to his lap. With bloodshot eyes and orbs darker than the night sky he said, "I don't like people anymore."

"Was there ever a time where you did like people?"

An annoyed expression overcame his face. Creasing the lines of dirt pressed into his ailing skin tone. His still broken glasses rested on the bridge of his nose at an awkward angle. The many holes in his scrappy clothing made me frown. It was odd and slightly worrying that I was the one that endured ten days of torture yet he looked worse.

"I presume when I was a pup and dependent on everyone else for my basic needs," he replied dully. "But now that I can feed myself and wipe my own ass, I realize now how unnecessary it is to talk to other people."

Uh huh. Bet Rowena had a hand to be played in that type of mentality too.

"Also, I've had enough of playing leader for a lifetime. We come here and ask for one simple thing and even that goes wrong." Rolling his eyes, Reign slumped deeper into the armchair with a scowl. "I hate this place but it's better than a cave so whatever."

Who the fuck let Reign be leader? What was this about a cave?

I had so many questions right now.

"Um, where is everyone else?"

"Sky's checking on Flora and Pride's taking off her collar." Reign counted on his dirt smudged fingers as he listed off each person. "Leo's fighting Alpha Draco outside and-"

"What?! Why?!" I shot out of bed, clutching the thin blanket around my naked body and scrambled towards the window. My legs wobbled like a newborn deer and I had to brace myself against the wall just to peer outside.

Sure enough, there were two black wolves tearing into each other. Tufts of fur littered the ground. Moonlight highlighted their bleeding sides and snapping jaws. My breath caught at the sight of Leo's rage infused body. His large wolf form trembled. Not with pain, but with raw fury. The violence he unleashed upon my kin made me gasp. I was too shocked by the pit-less gaze enveloping his rich red irises to try and get him to stop.

This rampaging Werewolf was nothing at all like the man I'd grown to love.

Leo was gentle with his sweet touches and morning kisses. Leo was firm but soft when he had to put someone in their place. Leo was a kind man.

He was nothing like this out of control animal intent on ripping Alpha Draco to shreds.

My head grew woozy as I watched them tear into each other. Reign stood beside me with his bloody book in hand. We watched the carnage unfold in shared silence before it became too much for me and I had to look away.

I didn't think seeing Leo so feral could be so heartbreaking but it was.

"He saw your back and shifted in here," Reign explained. "Alpha Draco's sparring with him until he can get the bloodlust out of his system. Trust me, with his temper, he's the last person you wanna see right now."

Reign's face was unreadable as he continued to watch Leo and Alpha Draco fight like berserkers. It was his tone, however, that caught my attention. There was a little something more underlying Reign's emphasis on the word temper.

I groaned as another wave of dizziness hit me. Leaning against the cold wall for support, I sighed as the cold exterior met my flushed skin. Reign's brooding stare flitted to me for a second, an uneasy aura surrounded us as he shifted from one foot to the other.

"Are you ok?" Surprise filled his dark eyes, as if I'd asked him something absurd. "Reign?"

The stunned Beta blinked away his confusion before nodding stiffly.

"You look like you haven't slept much," I argued. The sunken darkness beneath his cold eyes worried me even more so than before.

"I haven't had time to sleep." Hesitation lined his haggard features. His shoulders sagged and before I could even question it I felt something warm cupping my elbow. Reign's calloused hand softly held me by the arm, tugging me away from the window. Dumbfounded and still reeling from the sudden wave of nausea, I let him lead me away from the window and back to bed. His touch instantly vanished the second I sat down. When I blinked he was on the other side of the room back in his chair. As far away from me as he could get. "There's water on the nightstand for you."

I gulped that tall glass of water quicker than Pride dicked down half the she-wolves back home.

Relief eased my throat as I tested my voice out. Finally, I didn't sound like I chain smoked cigars in my free time.

"Thank you."

"I didn't bring it," he said dismissively. "Healers are gonna bring food once in a while to see what you can keep down."

I nodded, looking forward to the promise of food. I knew they'd bring me small portions at first until I could be trusted not to scarf it all in one go. Throwing up wasn't something any of us wanted for me. Of that I was fairly certain.

"So," I rested against the headboard, "have you checked on Flora yet?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"She annoys me." I bristled at his words, fiercely protective of my tortured companion. "Plus, it's not like we're friends anyway. It's not like she'd want to see me."

"You don't know that," I replied. "She might want to see you."

Or she might not. I wasn't too sure about Flora's thoughts or feelings regarding Reign. The most I could recall about any of their interactions were Flora forcing food on him once he became a hermit. I liked to believe she cared enough not to let him starve so that had to count for something.

"Also, are you saying that I'm not annoying? You see me as a friend-"

"No," his rough voice mumbled. "Just because you're more tolerable than Miss Sex on Legs doesn't mean I like you. I'm here because there's nowhere else to go. Simple as that."

Well, be still my beating heart.

I still smiled though.

"You really know how to woo a woman," I joked. The pain of pressing my back against the wooden headboard made me grimace slightly. My tender skin stung but I wanted to sit up so desperately. I couldn't stand staying hunched over or laying face down for another minute.

Just because my body was weak didn't mean I had to completely succumb to it.

"Like I'd care what a woman thinks of me." Rolling his eyes, the dreary-eyed wolf watched me through his thick lashes. His quiet observation made me feel like I was under a microscope with the intensity of his stare.

"What?"

"Does it hurt?"

I was two seconds away from firing off an angry sarcasm-laced rebuke. At the last moment I held my tongue, finally seeing a little more emotion than usual seep into his small eyes. There was some knowledge there. Knowledge that differed in the way his eyes shined whenever he discussed books or new leads. Only when I remembered Rowena's words of poison filled wisdom did I understand.

What happens when a premature baby sets off the chain of events of a prophecy? Somewhere else a little boy loses his mother and grows up in a cold, abusive household. Firstborn and rough to the very core.

Reign grew up in a cold and abusive household. The results of his upbringing had been waving their red flags at me since day one and I missed them all.

Maybe Sky was better off not having had much interaction with her father while growing up. Maybe, in some weird way, she was shielded from-

Holy shit.

And that's when I really saw Reign.

"Oh my Gods," I whispered. "I know what you're doing."

Son of a bitch.

If I thought Flora was a real master manipulator of mind games and trickery then I was sorely mistaken. Flora bested me, there was no doubt about that. But Reign superseded us both in terms of well played games and deviation.

"Rowena told me you grew up in an abusive household. And since your mom's dead I can only assume that means your dad was the abuser," I said. Other than the squinting of his small eyes, Reign didn't even flinch at the sound of my words. "This whole time you've had us all fooled. You made us think you were this cold asshole that hated his half-sister but that's not the whole truth. Is it?"

"I don't love her."

"Maybe not but you care enough to protect her," I insisted. His sunken eyes flashed a sliver of fear and I knew I'd struck a nerve. "You're not mean to her because you hate her. You're mean to her because you know that if you show her any kindness she'd take that as an invitation into the family. And that means more quality time with your dad."

The man that abused him.

Reign's leg bounced, jostling the holes in his black jeans. I ignored the way his vacant stare grew misty, not wanting to embarrass him even further.

"What did he do to you?"

"Nothing that hasn't already healed." Reign's fingers ghosted over his shoulder before he fixed me with a stern glare. "He wasn't a good man. She was a naïve kid. The last thing anyone needed was for her to get dragged into the mess that was our family. If you tell her what he's like I swear to the Moon Goddess I'll-"

"I won't tell her," I promised. "I won't tell anyone."

Reign eyed me wearily before snapping his book open to where he'd left off. I could tell he wasn't actually reading with how absentmindedly he flipped the pages. Even so, I allowed him to keep his protective barrier in place while he regained his composure.

"And it does hurt. Not as much as before, though," I said. "This time it's more tolerable now that the silver's out of my system."

Now all I needed was to get rid of this pesky collar and I'd be all set. My neck still burned from where the pure silver necklace of pain rested snuggly against it. I just knew that my neck would be bruised once it came off.

When Reign didn't respond I continued the conversation to fill the loud silence.

"How were things while we were gone?"

"Well-"

The door slammed open with a very irritated Pride standing in the doorway. "Everything went to shit."

"True," Reign agreed. With his cold mask back in place, he speared me with an unbothered stare, ignoring Pride's glaring. "Remember the saying that a Pack is weak without a strong Alpha and Luna?"

"Yeah."

"Well, our Pack was weak with a missing Luna and a barely there Alpha." Reign snapped his book shut, returning Pride's blaring green glare. "Thunder Boy here transported us into the face of a mountain in Colorado not even one second out of battle. Imagine being bruised and bloody then having to fall, I don't know, a few hundred feet-"

"They're alive," Pride interrupted. He threw his hands up in the air, looking like a deranged man praying at the ceiling. "A part that they conveniently leave out of the story whenever it comes up."

"Leo fought Pride. Have you seen the claw marks on Pride's face?" They were hard to miss. The four claw marks running down the left side of Pride's face were jagged and had scarred badly. His eyebrow was even slit from the impact of Leo's blow. "Blown up cottage, no herbs, Pride's booboo is permanent. But, don't worry, there's more."

"Reign," Pride growled. His bright green eyes darkened a dangerous shade but I couldn't find it within me to step in. I was far too appalled by these continuous revelations to do anything besides lay in bed.

"Leo ran away so we had to derail your rescue plus prophecy talk for a couple days," Reign continued. "He eventually came back, covered in blood that wasn't his. Not that that's any of my business...."

Blood that wasn't his? I shot Pride an alarmed look, suddenly very aware of the harsh ticking of his jaw.

"Thunder Boy mentally went off the reservation for a while. We've been living in a cave since all of our money blew up with the cottage." Reign dragged a hand over his body with an unimpressed expression. "He also stole clothes from a thrift shop and things have continued to go downhill since then."

"Get the fuck out." Pride's chest rumbled with barely contained growls as he balled his fists. His knuckles were split and stained with dried blood. When I sniffed the air I smelled Leo's scent on him. I wasn't so sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"And go where?"

"Oh, I don't know, why don't you go downstairs and talk to your Mate?" Pride's eyes gleamed sadistically when Reign paled at those last two words. "That's right, buddy. Your Mate's been looking for you."

"Don't call him that!" Reign snapped. His grip on the 3,000 pages book tightened so much that his knuckles turned white. I genuinely feared I was about to get a live reenactment of what happened at Alpha Draco's borders not too long ago.

"Don't be so shy," Pride said mockingly. The scarred claw marks lifted as he smiled down on the fuming Beta. "I'm sure your Mate's forgotten all about how you beat him unconscious with a book just for trying to hug you."

"Your Mate is Beta Ryan?!" I gasped. I slapped a hand over my mouth to suppress a small chuckle as Reign flew to his feet in a heated frenzy.

"No!"

"Yes!" Pride beamed, throwing the door back open and motioning outwards. "Go to him. Do what your heart secretly desires and get the fuck out of my face."

"Shut, the fuck, up."

"If you tell me to shut up one more time I'll-"

"You'll what? Throw me into another mountain?" Reign scoffed. He waved the book at Pride threateningly, a half smirk filling his irritated features. "I'll go but not because you're telling me to. The last thing I'd want is to join your impending pity party."

Reign threw me a half smile that I wasn't sure was real or just pure snark. "Welcome back. If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go smell some roses or whatever."

Smell roses? In the middle of October?

Reign was about to be smelling some very dead floral carcasses if he was being serious. Which, once again, I couldn't tell if he was or not.

All I could do was smile at Pride when the moody Beta was finally gone. That smile fell a little once I realized he didn't plan on returning it any time soon.

"What, aren't you happy to see me?" I teased. Shutting the door quietly, I watched as Pride crossed his arms and maintained his sour glare. "Pride?"

"I told you I couldn't hold that portal open for long." His voice was cold, void of all emotion. It made me want to shrink into myself and cower with the way he was looking at me. Instead, I clutched the blanket tighter, pulling it higher as I sat up straighter.

"I remember. That's why I got Leo through so quickly-"

"You were supposed to be right behind them!" Pride roared. I gaped at him wordlessly, stunned by his outburst.

For, like, a second.

Anger I hadn't felt in so long pushed me to my feet and straight into Pride's line of fire.

"The plan was to get Leo to safety-"

"The plan was to get everyone to safety," Pride snapped. "Not for you to go play hero and risk your life! And Flora's too!"

I-

I couldn't believe this.

"I wasn't playing hero," I hissed. I hit Pride's chest with my pointer finger, growling at the harsh glares he drilled through my head. "I was doing what was best for everyone. If we didn't get Leo out of there then everything would've been over. Everything we fought so hard for would've died the second Rowena got her hands on all of us.

"Are you really telling me that you're mad at me for doing that? I-"

"I'm not mad at you!"

"Well, you could've fooled me!" I screamed. Tears lined my eyes and I was ashamed to say that a few slipped out. "I know we have a weird friendship but I didn't expect this from you after enduring ten days of torture. I thought you'd be happy to see me. I thought-"

"I am happy to see you." Pride bit his bottom lip harshly, keeping his wet gaze trained on the wall behind me. "But I told you, Venus I told you, that I couldn't keep that portal open for long. I waited for you to come through, but you never did. I waited for you to mind link me, but you never did. I waited for everyone to stop looking at me like it was my fault, but that never happened either."

Pride's watery gaze met mine. It grew colder the moment he zeroed in on the collar. Without saying another word Pride wrapped his fingers around the silver poison. Lines of blue magick filled the veins pulsing beneath his forearms as he ripped it clean off.

A choked gasp fell from my lips as I took my first full breath since capture. The burning sensation rippled over my tender neck and I cried with relief. Sinking into Pride's still open arms, I finally felt safe enough to cry without any shame holding me back.

It wasn't your fault.

The weight of Pride's grief and self-hatred crashed into me the moment I felt our Pack bond reconnect. His heart didn't beat. And yet, I felt just how broken it really was.

Pride's hands hovered over my back before coming to cup the back of my head softly. Wet tears dripped onto the crown of my head.

You could just say you missed me.

You don't have to yell.

Pride's hummed reply was something between a sob and a laugh.

I missed you.

"If you ever leave me alone with all of them again I'm gonna kill myself," he whispered. I felt his lips curl into a sad smile when he felt my shoulders shake with laughter. "I'm serious, Venus. I'm done. I think I genuinely hate all of them now."

"What are you gonna do when you become Gamma, then?"

You can't just give up
every time things get tough.

"I agree," Pride mumbled. "That's why I'm resigning before we go home. Give my position to one of my cousins. I don't care."

If it weren't for the joking tone in his voice I'd have used what little strength I regained to whoop his ass. I hated his cousins more than I used to dislike Pride. The last thing I needed within my Court were misogynistic, racist pigs like Pride's cousins.

"Haha. Very funny." Pulling back a little, I touched his injured face. It pained me to feel his broken skin beneath my fingers while knowing that Leo was the cause of it. "How bad is he?"

Pride pursed his lips. Our silence was drowned out by the snapping jaws and harsh growls from outside.

"He snapped," Pride replied. "The break we all get when we lose our shit? He had it, Venus. None of us can bring him back."

He's not the man you left.

Be careful when you see him.

With the noise of battling Alpha's growing louder by the second, I felt fear take root where relief once bloomed. For the first time since waking up, I wasn't excited to see my Mate again. Now, I was just afraid.

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QOTD: Did Reign fool you with his game too? What do you think of him and Beta Ryan being Mates? Any thoughts on Pride and Venus's reaction? How do you think Venus will get through Leo's rage?